In Howard's first game since Nov. 17, when his strained right knee left him struggling to walk, he owned the paint as if he never left it. He grew stronger as the game went on, scoring 10 of his 26 point in the final 7½ minutes. Most of all, he turned a sometimes-rocky 108-96 victory over the Denver Nuggets into a reason for the Rockets to celebrate Saturday night at Toyota Center.

Howard was back and better than the Rockets had any reason to expect.

"Dwight did fantastic," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "I was kind of wondering what kind of rhythm he'd have. He looked great out there. He covered up the holes for us defensively. He ran the court really well. I didn't really see any ill effects.

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Rockets updateSaturday: Rockets 108, Nuggets 96.

Record: 18-5.

Wed.: At Denver, 9:30 p.m.

TV/radio: Root, ESPN; 740 AM, 790 AM and 850 AM (Spanish).

"I was really surprised that his wind looked as good as it did in his first stint. I've said it before, Dwight is a freakish athlete. He really is a hell of an athlete. It's really hard to take that much time off - a month - and then come back and have any semblance of rhythm at all. He looked good."

If Howard's apparent good health was the most significant sign - and he said he felt no discomfort other than getting stiff when on the bench - the success the Rockets had getting the ball inside to Donatas Motiejunas was a clear second.

Motiejunas scores 25

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While Motiejunas picked up much of the low-post slack with Howard missing 11 straight games, he demonstrated he could get plenty of touches with Howard back, scoring a career-high 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting in 32 minutes.

With the Nuggets forced to keep their centers on Howard, who hauled in 13 rebounds, blocked three shots and discouraged the Nuggets from taking countless other shots, Motiejunas went to work inside as confidently as he had when Howard was out.

Motiejunas had averaged 14.3 points on 56.2 percent shooting with Howard sidelined. With Howard back, the Rockets went to Motiejunas not because they had no choice but because he had an advantage to exploit.

"Once we got into the flow of the game and started to figure things out again, we saw a matchup that we did like with D-Mo and we went at that," forward Trevor Ariza said.

Noted Nuggets coach Brian Shaw: "We got dominated by their big guys inside. Howard and Motiejunas, we would stop when they threw the ball in the post. They just backed us down and got whatever they wanted."

The Nuggets might not have expected that out of Motiejunas, and the Rockets did not expect to get so much from Howard.

"I just think the time I had away from the game, getting in shape was the most important thing, working on all the stuff I do in the game," Howard said. "The last week or so, I've been pushing myself to the limit, doing extra work after practice.

"I didn't know what to expect. I just wanted to give my teammates everything I had. I know I didn't play a perfect game, but I gave the hardest effort I could for my team."

Bloody nose for efforts

Howard said he had been working out twice a day for the past week and felt especially strong in the past few days. About his biggest problem was a bloody nose. But if he was unsure about what to expect, he was not surprised with how well it went.

"I had a lot of fun out there being back on the floor," said Howard, who might not have enjoyed being back as much as his teammates reveled in welcoming him.

"He looked really good," said guard James Harden, happy to have his third career triple-double (24 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds) overshadowed. "He looked really active. He rebounded very well and challenged at the rim, which we were missing."